A Grimsby mother is celebrating "victory" after an online petition resulted in the removal of an app that had led to widespread bullying among local teenagers.

Lorretta Chester and her daughter Jazzminn, 14, had spoken out early this year about the widespread bullying that had been taking place on an "anonymous feedback" app called Sarahah, which was used in conjunction with popular app Snapchat.

Jazzminn had received numerous "disgusting and abusive" messages from anonymous people after she had been using the app, with some people going as far as encouraging her to self-harm or commit suicide.

Loretta Chester and her daughter, Jazzminn Chester, 14, look at some of the vile messages which were sent to Jazzminn on her phone, using the social networking site, Sarahah.

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However instead of dwelling on the horrible messages the schoolgirl and her mother decided to alert others in the area to what was happening on the app.

Now thanks to an online petition, that was originally started in Australia and gathered 469,701 signatures, the Apple and Google app stores have removed it from sale.

Lorretta has called the decision by the tech giants as a "great victory", feeling that the hard-work of parents and young people across the globe in spreading awareness about the app has led to its removal.

She said: "This is a really great victory and should go a long way in protecting our children from these horrible apps that can be used to do so much damage.

"Shortly after we spoke out about the problems that were happening with young people using Sarahah, we discovered that a woman in Australia had set up a petition because she had been made aware of people using it and telling her daughter to kill herself, in the same way they did with Jazzminn.

Loretta Chester and her daughter, Jazzminn Chester, 14, look at some of the vile messages which were sent to Jazzminn on her phone, using the social networking site, Sarahah.

"We immediately started sharing it and getting others to sign it, and the petition really picked up momentum and thankfully has been listened to.

"Jazzminn and I had got a lot of stick online for speaking to The Grimsby Telegraph about the problem, and while that didn't bother us as we were simply spreading awareness about the app, I am now even happier that we did because it was raising that awareness that has got it removed.

"I am just overjoyed that we have managed to get a victory."

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Although Lorretta is "over the moon" with the news that the Sarahah app has been removed from the Apple iStore and Google Play, she has raised concerns that another has been developed that may soon quickly take Sarahah's place.

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She continued: "Apparently there is already another app that has come on the market that does the exact same thing as Sarahah, which is a big concern.

"It is almost as if when one app disappears another has already been lined up to take its place.

"Thankfully Jazzminn has nothing to do with anything like that anymore, but I would still encourage parents and young people to be vigilant about what is going on, because what was being said on these apps could lead to a tragedy."